Railway car hopper door



Dec. 4, 1934. v. E. SISSON RAILWAY CAR HOPPER DOOR 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 15

Even/tor Dec. 4, 1934.

- v. E. SISSON RAILWAY CAR HOPPER DOOR Filed Sept. 15, '19-'55 3 SheetsShee 2 Lvenior Dec. 4, 1934, v. E. SISS-ION 1,983,049

RAILWAY CAR HOPPER DOOR Filed Sept. 15, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 h EDSTATES Patented Dec. 4, 1934 PATENT OFFICE f RAILWAY can HOPPER noon 1 Application September 15,1933, Serial No. 689,500

7 Claims.

My invention relates to the construction of railway'cars having drop doors, such as hopper cars, hopper gondola cars, drop bottom or general service gondola cars havingdrop end doors, or the like; having a door forming a part of the carfor retaining the load therein, which door is pro vided with hinges adjacent one of its edges and is capable of being dropped or swung open. Any means, of raising the door to the closed position and any means for supporting, looking or releasingthe door may be employed with my device. object of the invention ist'oprovide such I a door to accommodatea locking mechanism which engages the door adjacent the middle of the side of the door opposite the hingesjfisuch as is shown in Campbell Patent No. 1,885,181 of November 1,1932) by reinforcing the closure part, of the door with main load supporting ribs orbeams extending between the three points of support of the door, i. e., the hinges and latching means, and other secondary ribs to transmit the imposed load upon the door to the main ribs.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive show my improved door applied to a railway car, wherein Fig. 4 is-a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 shows the locking bar in detail. Fig; 6 shows the locking cam in detail.

Fig. 7 shows the locking hook in detail.

Fig. 8 shows a plan view of the door.

I Fig. 9 shows a side view of the upper part of the door.

' Fig. 10 shows a side view of the right side of the 351 door.

Fig. 11 shows a side view of the bottom part of the door.

Fig. 12 shows a side view of the left side of the door.

In the drawings the usual parts of the car are shown, such as the center sill 2; side wall 3; lower side chord 4; inner hopper wall 5; outer hopper wall 6; hopper floor sheet '7; end slope sheet 8; hopper edge stiifeners 9, 10 and 11 and hinge '45" butt 12. The locking mechanism comprisesv a locking hook 15 secured to the hopper floor sheet '7 by the rivets 16, a locking bar 17 pivoted to the door and the locking cam 18 pivoted to the door by the pintle 19. This locking is just used as an 50 illustration and is better shown in the Campbell patent referred to above.

In the form of my invention illustrated the door comprises a main or closure portion 20 having spaced apart hinge lugs 22 adjacent one of the side margins of the closure portion with a stiffener deepest adjacent their middle parts.

24 extending between the hinge lugs and, as this stiffening rib is a beam to transmit the load im-' posed on the adjacent part of the door to the hinge lugs, I preferably make it deepest adjacent its middle portion. 1 'I'heaperture 26 through the closure portion which is preferably positioned on the opposite side of the door from the hinge lugs 22 is adapted for the reception of a retaining means, such as a locking hook 15. A wall 28 is preferably provided around the aperture 26 and a main rib 30 extends from each hinge lug 22 to adjacent the aperture 26 and if a wall is used these ribs merge into the Wall 28, as shown in Fig. 8. As each of these ribs 30 is a beam supporting the load on the adjacent part of the door, I preferably make them The two hinge lugs 22 and the retaining'device 15 extending through the aperture constitute av three point support for the door and I have provided ribs extending between the adjacent points to form a triangular construction of great strength.

, I also provide a stiffening flange 34 at the side of the door adjacent the aperture 26 forming a beam supported at its middle part, therefore, I

preferably decrease the depth of this beam toward the opposite corners 36 of the door. If a wall 28 is used around the aperture 26 this stiffening member 34 extends from each side of the wall toward the adjacent corners 36 of the door and decreases in depth toward these corners. This stiffening flange or stiffening member 34 transmits the load imposed upon the lower part of the door to the retaining device 15 and also prevents the lower corners of the door from drooping. The secondary ribs 38 carry their loads to the main ribs.

The stiffener 24 which extends between the hinge lugs 22 preferably extends beyond the hinge lugs to the adjacent corners 40 of the door and the end flanges 42 of the door extend between and connect the extension of the stiffener 34 and the end of the stiffening member or stiffening flange 24, which end flange 42 is preferably deepest adjacent its middle part. The stiffener 34 and extensions thereof, stiffening member 24 and end flanges 42 preferably are connected together to form a continuous stiffener adjacent the periphery of the door.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a closure portion, spaced apart hinge lugs adjacent one side thereof, an aperture through said closure portion adjacent the opposite side thereof adapted for the reception of a retaining device, and a rib extending from adjacent each hinge lug to adjacent said aperture.

2. A door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a closure portion, spaced apart hinge lugs adjacent one side thereof, a stiffener extending between said hinge lugs, an aperture through said closure portion adjacent the opposite side thereof adapted for the reception of a retaining device, and a rib extending from adjacent each hinge lug to adjacent said aperture.

3. A door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway car consistingof an integral casting comprising a closure portion, spaced apart hinge lugs adjacent one side thereof, an aperture through said closure portion adjacent the opposite side thereof adapted for the reception of a retaining device, a wall around said aperture, and a rib extending from adjacent each hinge lug and merging into said wall.

4. A door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a closure portion, spaced apart hinge lugs adjacent one side thereof, an

aperture through said closure portion adjacent.

ening member extending from each side of said wall to the adjacent corner of the door.

5. A door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a closure portion, spaced apart hinge lugs adjacent one side thereof, an aperture through said closure portion adjacent the opposite side thereof adapted for the reception of a retaining device, a wall around said aperture, a rib extending from adjacent each hinge lug and merging into said wall, and a stiffening member extending from each side of said wall to the adjacent corner of the door which decreases in depth toward said corner.

6. A door forming part of the load retaining meansof a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a closure portion, spaced apart hinge lugs adjacent one side thereof, a stiffener extending between said hinge lugs, an aperture through said closure portion adjacent the opposite side thereof adapted for the reception of a retaining device, a rib extending from adjacent each hinge lug to adjacent said aperture, and a stifiening flange at the side of the door adjacent said aperture forming a beam to transmit the load imposed on the lower part of the door to the retaining device.

7. A door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a closure portion, spaced apart hinge lugs adjacent one side thereof, a stiffener extending between said hinge lugs, an aperture through said closure portion adjacent the middle of the opposite side thereof adapted for the reception of a retaining device, and a main rib extending from adjacent each hinge lug to adjacent said aperture, and secondary ribs angularly disposed to and merging into said main ribs.

VINTON E. SISSON. 

